A Will Like Platinum
by taleoftwoherondales
Summary: Ten years ago, the death of the Champion shook the Sinnoh region. Now, it's time for a new generation of trainers to rise to the occasion and defend their home against the biggest threat the island has ever faced. Rated T for occasional swearing, but nothing too crazy.


**Hello, everyone! I haven't written a story in like, two years, I think, and none of those stories were ever anything like this. I was bored and started playing my favorite childhood game, Pokemon Platinum, and remembered how much I loved the story, so I decided to novelize it as I go. I only have one class-less day a week, Friday's, along with my weekends so hopefully I'll be able to play and write in a timely fashion. Let me know if you guys want me to continue in the reviews/comments. :)**

* * *

 _Bang Bang Bang_

Dawn Hirosae cracked one eye open, glaring at her door. Her mother would normally just come inside, and she never locked her room door in case of emergencies, so who the hell would be disturbing her at- Dawn checked the alarm clock on her bedside table- 7:30 in the morning?

She got up, cracking her back and rolling the sleep out of her ankles before slipping on her house shoes, padding over to her door. Throwing it open, she as greeted by a vibrating, impatient boy who was staring at his watch pointedly and tapping his foot a hundred beats per minute. He was blonde, a rarity in this part of Sinnoh, and unfortunately, her best friend.

"Two questions, Barry. One, why in Arceus's name are you up so damn early, and two, why are you here?" Dawn loved Barry like a brother, but it was way too early for his quirks right now.

"Listen up, because I have a genius plan! One that only materializes once in a lifetime!" He lunged to grab her arm, dragging her downstairs, past the kitchen where Dawn's mother, Joanna, and Espeon, Celena, were preparing breakfast, and out the front door. Although it was May, Sinnoh was notoriously chilly, and Dawn was clad in only a long sleeved shirt and sleep shorts as she was forced down the path that took them to Route 201.

"C'mon, Dawn! Would it kill ya to go a little faster? We're almost there!" Barry yelled, picking up speed as they approached a patch of tall grass.

"If that's where you're taking me, yeah it might actually kill me! What are you thinking?" Dawn skidded to a stop, yanking Barry's arm back before he could get himself seriously hurt.

Everyone, and Dawn meant everyone, knew not to go into the tall grass without a Pokemon. She could almost see the hospital bills in her mind.

"Dawn, you and I are almost 15 years old! It's time to spread our wings and fly! It's time for an adventure!" Barry announced to the empty, snowy Route, jumping up and down with excitement. He calmed down, only slightly, turning to Dawn. "Here's the plan: We're going to Sandgem town and ask Professor Rowan for a Pokemon! He'll be so impressed that we managed to make it there, that he just has to!"

Dawn sighed inwardly. There were so many flaws in her friend's plan, and so little time to point them all out. Aside from the utter stupidity of going through the tall grass, which Barry attempted to justify by saying, "We'll scoot through the patches so quick that the wild Pokemon will never catch us", there was also the fact that Professor Rowan, the 10th Champion of the Sinnoh region before retiring to become the Regional Professor, scared Dawn more than Dialga and Palkia themselves. Just last night, Dawn saw a television interview with him on it, looking as angry and stoic as ever.

Dawn was not about to let herself get killed, either by the wild Pokemon or the Professor, and leave her mom with no one but her aging Pokemon. But she couldn't let Barry go through with this, at least not alone. She had made a promise to his mother when they were kids that she would try to reign in her ADHD son's "act first, think later" tendencies that so often got him in trouble during their childhood.

"Barry…" Dawn trailed off, not quite knowing what to say to persuade him to hold off on his crazy plan and look for a safer alternate solution.

"It's cool, Dawn. I'll go on ahead and when I come back with my brand new Pokemon, I'll take you to Sandgem town to get one too! No worries! Alright, on the count of three! One, two-"

"Hold it right there, young man!" A very familiar, and very angry, voice echoed out on to the deserted Route. Dawn whirled around, only to find herself face to face with the grey haired, bearded Professor himself. She gulped, swallowing her fear. He was even scarier in person.

"What in Mespirit, Azelf, Uxie and all other god's good names are you two doing?!" He stared both Dawn and Barry down. Dawn shrunk into herself, taking a few steps back in the direction of the safety of Twinleaf Town. Surely her mother, who's name invoked awe in all Sinnohians, could convince the Professor that this was all a misunderstanding?

"I, uh, actually wanted to go to Sandgem Town to meet you, Sir." Barry said, nervously pulling at a loose thread on his scarf. The Professor looked taken aback. He turned away, seemingly muttering to himself.

Having come to some sort of conclusion, the Professor turned back to face Dawn and Barry, slightly mollified but still pretty angry.

"You two wanted Pokemon, you say? Hmm, well how do I know you are worthy? Those who recklessly endanger themselves? Who knows what they would do if they were entrusted with such a powerful being."

Barry inhaled sharply. "Fine, then forget about me, but at least give one to my friend Dawn here. She had nothing to do with my plan. I just dragged her out here to see if she would come with."

"Hmf. How big of you, boy." He nodded at Barry before turning his scrutinizing gaze on Dawn. "Are your friend's words true?" He asked her.

"Well, yes, but Barry wouldn't have really gone through with it, anyways! He just has bad ideas sometimes, but he usually never acts on them!" Dawn tried to defend her friend, who gave her a sheepish smile.

Hurried footsteps from the same way the Professor came caught Dawn's attention. She looked up, catching the eye of a flustered looking teen about the same age as she and Barry, carrying some disheveled papers and a heavy looking briefcase.

"Is there something wrong, Professor?" He asked, worriedly eyeing Dawn and Barry before continuing. "You forgot your briefcase at Lake Verity, Sir."

"Ah, thank you, Lucas. I was just about to intrust these two with a Pokemon." The Professor said calmly as he took back the briefcase, setting it on the ground and opening it up to reveal three shiny red Pokeballs. All three of the teenagers' mouths dropped open in a mix of shock and disbelief.

Dawn said absolutely nothing, still absorbing the old man's words. This couldn't really be happening, could it? She thought she would have more time to convince her mother to let her take on the League challenge instead of following her mother's Cordinating path.

"Professor, these are incredibly rare and valuable Pokemon! You would really just give them away to two strangers?" Lucas spluttered, his face heating up despite the brisk air.

At the same time, a wide smile broke across Barry's face as he began to throw his thanks at the Professor.

"Silence!" The Professor demanded, effectively shutting both Barry and Lucas up.

"You, the quiet one. Come here and select which one you would like to accompany you. The far left contains Turtwig, a grass type. The center ball contains Piplup, the water type, and the far right contains Chimchar, the fire starter." The Professor motioned Dawn to step forwards, which her body did automatically without waiting for her mind to catch up.

Dawn really didn't know much about any of the three Pokemon, except the one which starred in her mother's favorite childhood story to tell, "The Turtwig and the Buneary." It always appealed to Dawn that she, the patient and calculating one, would one day triumph over the speedy and headstrong Barry.

Hesitantly, she reached down to grab the left Pokeball, releasing the Pokemon inside.

Her new Turtwig materialized on the snowy ground before her, giving a slight shiver before taking in it's surroundings. Dawn bent down to greet her new companion, who, despite it's happy-go-lucky nature, seemed a bit wary of it's new trainer.

"Hi, Turtwig, I'm Dawn. Is it okay with you if you come help me on my adventure? I want to collect all the gym badges in Sinnoh, and I don't think I can do it without you. What do you say?" The Turtwig seemed to contemplate her words before stepping forwards and allowing Dawn to touch it's leaf, a sign of trust. Dawn smiled before scooping her new friend up and standing up to face the Professor.

"I'd like to name Turtwig. Is it a he or a she?" Dawn inquired to the Professor.

"It's quite rare, but incidentally, your Turtwig is a she. We don't know for certain why the gender discrepancies happen, but yours is one of the rare females of the species."

Dawn didn't care much either way, but she was sure some people did. Hopefully, no one found out and got their hands on her.

"Alrighty, then. I think I'm going to call you 'Gaia', like the Earth goddess. Is that fine with you?" Dawn asked her Turtwig, who quickly nodded, seemingly pleased with her new name.

Apparently while Dawn bonded with Gaia, Barry had already selected his Pokemon, the Chimchar, and the Professor had given Piplup to a very taken aback Lucas.

"Take care of your Pokemon, you two. Lucas and I will be taking our leave to Sandgem town. Please come and see me at my laboratory tomorrow morning, as I still have much to discuss with you. Good day, then."

Dawn watched the Professor go, and Lucas scurry off after him. The other boy was quite timid. Hopefully having a Pokemon would help break him out of his shell.

"Dawn!" Barry snapped his fingers in front of her face, disrupting her thoughts. He ran five feet away, turning to face her.

"I challenge you to a battle! Damn, it feels so good to say that!"

Dawn squared her shoulders, channeling the strength she thought her father might have had before battling. "I accept your challenge! Let's go, Gaia! I believe in you!"

The Turtwig stepped on to the makeshift battle field in front of her trainer, ready to take down the fire monkey across from her. They had been friends back at the lab, but all bets were off now.

"Okay, Flare, start off with Leer!" Barry ordered his Chimchar, who look perturbed at not actually attacking, but did what he was told.

"Gaia, get close and use Tackle, but dodge Flare's Leers! That's right, girl, keep 'em coming!"

For the son of Frontier Brain Palmer, Barry was quite lacking on the strategy front. He enthusiastically kept calling out Leer attacks, even when Flare went down after one too many Tackles from Gaia, who's defense was basically nonexistent at that point, but it didn't really matter since Flare never landed a hit.

"Fantastic work, Gaia! Slow and steady really does win the race, doesn't it?" Dawn lifted Gaia into the air, twirling around while the Turtwig let out a few amused chirps.

"Celebrate all you want this time, Dawn, but believe me! Next time won't be so easy for you. Flare and I are going to be the strongest team in all of Sinnoh! Even stronger than my dad…" Barry trailed off, glancing back behind him at Twinleaf Town. "But until then, you should probably go home and talk to your mom, Dawn. She's gonna freak. Anyways, see ya later, rival!"

Barry ran top speed towards his house with Chimchar only trailing slightly behind, shouting inspirational things at his new partner. Dawn shook her head. It was like he was always hopped up on multiple energy drinks at all times.

* * *

Dawn and Gaia stopped at her front door, faltering slightly. What was she going to say? Joanna hated competitive battling, especially after what happened to Dawn's father.

Which is why it was that much more shocking when her mother agreed to let her go on a journey.

"I mean, what am I going to do? Stop you and have you and your cutie pie Pokemon over there resent me all your lives? The Hirosae family is a family of skilled battlers, of course you want to take on the League challenge. Just promise me one thing, okay? Be more careful than your father was." Joanna looked off into the distance for a few moments before her mind returned to the conversation at hand. "And take these cute new running shoes I picked out for you last week! They go fabulously with your dark pink jacket, which you of course have to bring with you! I don't care that it's practically June. It's never summer in Sinnoh."

And that was that.


End file.
